Espoo, Finland, 2015-01-02 12:17 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- PRESS RELEASE 2 January 2015
Production at Fortum's Loviisa nuclear power plant went smoothly in 2014. A total of 7.88 terawatt hours of power was generated, corresponding to about 12 percent of total energy generation in Finland. The load factor of Loviisa nuclear power plant was 90.9% with Loviisa 1's load factor 92.5% and 89.3% at Loviisa 2. On an international scale, the load factor was among the best in pressurised water power plants.
Unit 1 of the power plant underwent a so-called short annual outage in 2014, and Unit 2 had a wider inspection outage, performed every 4 years. Unit 1 was thus out of production for 21 days and Unit 2 for 35 days. In addition to the inspections, several projects were carried out on Unit 2, involving improvements of safety and availability.
Several sizable investment and modernisation projects will be carried out at Loviisa nuclear power plant during the years 2015 to 2018. They aim at securing safe, reliable and profitable energy generation for the duration of the present operation permits, i.e. until 2027 and 2030. One of the most significant projects is the automation renewal, renegotiated and continued with a new partner, Rolls-Royce as of May 2014. The target is to finish the project by the end of the year 2018.
Of the investments in improved safety of the plant, the new air-cooled cooling systems were the most visible project. The ongoing installment of the new cooling towers is aimed at securing the plant's decay heat removal in highly extreme conditions where the plant's normal seawater cooling for some reason became unavailable. The system will be finalised during 2015.
In 2013, Fortum invested in total of EUR 60 million in Loviisa. The investments for 2014 have been higher than this.
Other major renewals in the past year were the modernisation of the pressure control system of the reactor coolant circuit and relief valve, renewal of the main transformers and generator circuit breakers, and the installations and implementation of the new weather observation system.
Loviisa nuclear power plant is a major employer in the region, providing work for over 500 Fortum employees and approximately 100 contractor employees. Moreover, a total of 930 contractor employees, 80% of which were domestic, participated in the annual outages and projects carried out during the outages.
Fortum Corporation
Corporate Communications
Additional information:
Thomas Buddas, deputy director, Loviisa Power Plant, Fortum, tel. +358 50 455 3710
www.fortum.com/loviisa
www.fortum.com/lovisa
Fortum
Fortum’s purpose is to create energy that improves life for present and future generations. Catering to the versatile needs of our customers, we generate, distribute and sell electricity and heat, and offer related expert services. Our operations focus on the Nordic and Baltic countries, Russia and Poland. In 2013, Fortum’s sales totalled EUR 6.1 billion and comparable operating profit was EUR 1.6 billion. We employ approximately 8,800 people. Fortum’s shares are traded on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. www.fortum.com
